The holidays are coming to an end, which means some of us have Christmas trees that need to be thrown away.
There is a proper way you can recycle your Christmas tree that's environmentally friendly.
Right after Christmas, Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful (KTMB) holds its Christmas Tree Recycling Program, which the NV Energy Foundation helps put on.
KTMB will be out collecting trees until January 11th from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Locations include:
- Bartley Ranch Park
- Reno Sports Complex
- Shadow Mountain Sports Complex in Sparks
On the weekend of January 3rd and 4th, locations include:
- Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Station in Spanish Springs
- Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Volunteer Station in Lemmon Valley.
- Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Station in Washoe Valley
But if you are dropping off a tree, make sure you clean it up, or the tree will not be accepted.
Chris Ewing, the Communications and Development Director for Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, explains, "You can bring by your Christmas tree free of lights, ornaments, and tinsel, and no flocking or wreaths. We can't accept those because they won't go through the chipper."
After the trees have been collected, they're chipped down into mulch and used for beautification projects throughout the area.
They say one of the benefits of recycling your tree is that you're not adding to the landfill or throwing the tree out and illegally dumping it somewhere where it becomes a fire hazard.
Ewing says, "Please recycle your Christmas tree with us. We do ask for a five-dollar donation just so we can keep this program going. We will also accept your unwanted Christmas lights as well at this location, or you can drop those off at Greater Nevada Credit Union; that way, we're recycling as much stuff as possible instead of it ending up in the landfill."
Additionally, Ewing tells us how many trees they collect each year: "We usually get anywhere from 7,500 to 10,000 trees a year, and since we've been doing this program, we've had just over 225,000 trees recycled."
